Family of Oregon man with compulsive eating disorder sue care home after staff allegedly let him sneak out and eat spoiled food

The family of Dylan Lee Massie-Hardy are suing a care home for $5 million after staff allegedly let him sneak out and eat spoiled food which is suspected of leading to his death. The Oregon resident had a rare genetic eating disorder causing him to compulsively eat.

Massie-Hardy died in 2023 at the age of 31 after contracting a foodborne illness as per the Daily Mail. The family believe that failures on the part of the care home played a part in his death. It’s alleged that he found and ingested unrefrigerated food while living in a state-run care facility and that this caused his illness and subsequent death according to a lawsuit.

The 31-year-old had a genetic condition known as Prader-Willi syndrome which can be caused by missing genes on chromosome 15, a duplicate of genes, or a change in paternal genes. Those afflicted with the condition do not feel full no matter how much they eat which, in some cases, can lead to obesity.

Due to his condition Massie-Hardy was being housed in the Duressa Teshite Adult Foster Home in Silverton. He also suffered from a number of other conditions including asthma, heart failure, and sleep apnea. The risks associated with his condition were well documented including, “food hoarding and consumption of unsafe or non-digestible items,” according to the lawsuit.

The family of Dylan Lee Massie-Hardy want compensation

The lawsuit against the care home was filed by Massie-Hardy’s mother, Mother Hutton, and states that her son was under strict supervision while in the home. The refrigerator remained locked to prevent him from accessing and he was limited to 2,000 calories per day. However, despite these precautions, the family alleges that Massie-Hardy was able to steal food from a supermarket during an unsupervised visit.

The food items were left to spoil and the suit states that they were later found in his room on April 12th and Massie-Hardy was sent to the emergency room on May 1st. Over the course of 11 days he was in and out of the emergency room with a foodborne illness before ultimately passing away on May 14th.

The family’s lawsuit claims that the Duressa Teshite Adult Foster Home and the Office of Developmental Disabilities Services at the Oregon Department of Human Services failed to create an adequate care plan for Dylan Lee Massie-Hardy resulting in his death. They claim that his room was not properly searched despite him having a history of stealing food.

The lawsuit was filed on Wednesday at the Marion County court although an employee of the care home denied that the facility had failed to properly care for Massie-Hardy. The family are seeking $5 million in compensation for the alleged oversight from care home staff.